Short-Lived
by IWEYC
Summary: Jaune Arc was a chivalrous person, no doubt about that. Despite his lack of skill, he had the heart of a hero, the courage to be able to never falter in the face of danger, and the personality of a knight - albeit a little bit awkward. So is it really a surprise that he would put himself in harms way for his friend?


**I DON'T OWN RWBY!**

 **"Do not judge my story by the chapter you walked in on." -Unknown**

* * *

 **Grimm.**

 **The creatures of darkness, they thrive in the shadows and spill forth the evil in our precious time of peace. They are the slayers of our light, the destroyers of our hope, our worst nightmares, and the villains in our childhood fairy tails.**

 **Being the very epitome of evil, it was fitting that they get spawned in such cruel manners - and getting attracted by negative emotions was more then enough.**

 **No one really knew the logic behind all that - wether it was what they fed off of, or it was what they enjoyed the most; seeing people feel fear, sadness, depression, anger, you name it. The council however, worked together to stop people from feeling this way, but to do so, they were forced to lull everyone into a false sense of security.**

 **The four kingdoms working together weren't going to be enough - _still_ aren't enough to this day - but with the help of hunters, armies, and even hunters-in-training combined, it would be enough to keep these vile forces at bay.**

 **Grimm were common knowledge to anyone even remotely aiming to be a hunter; it was what they fought against. More time within a hunter academy and you learned different types of grimm - and even different classes to each one.**

 **To outsiders though, civilians with no desire or drive to become a hunter, grimm were grimm, plain and simple.**

 **It still didn't change the fact that grimm could be as dangerous as the whole Atlas army, or just as weak as a kid holding a metal baseball bat. Grimm weren't just grimm - despite them being evil, they still had differences, each one holding a different speed, strength, mindset.**

 **Grimm weren't as mindless as people made them out to be.**

 **Even creatures like them had ranks, we were just the ones to place it for them.**

 **The scale ranged all the way from F to SS - with F being the one that posed the least of a threat, while SS took the best of the best to even challenge. It could start from a simple, lowly Beowolf, to the dangerous and feared Wyvern.**

 **The civilians were right - albeit in a childish sense - grimm were grimm, wether they were powerful or weak, they were still the shadows that took over our light.**

 **But there were grimm that even the highest of people didn't know about. A grimm so powerful it would be able to corrupt the human soul with just it's own blood.**

 **Grimm created by another, more dark being, that didn't just dwell in the shadows; but _made_ the shadows that we all feared.**

 **We were the ones to stop that.**

 **The ones that protected the people, the ones that were the hope for all of humanity.**

 **We were a secret society.**

 **And it was our job to kill all the grimm unknown to the public.**

 **But even a band of hunters as strong as us was bound to falter, it was just the way life was - sometimes things were defeated, just like the cold truth that peace wouldn't last, it would _never_ last. While things were destined to fall, so were good times dictated to become bad by fate.**

 **One routine mission gone wrong, and the one hunter that failed came back without a scratch...or so they thought.**

 **One by one, this person continued to corrupt the souls of this secret society, and no one was able to stop her; they didn't even know she was doing it in the first place.**

 **Luckily, a man with a cane was able to put her down - and she was forced to retreat.**

 **Then a time of peace came to be, none of the rumored grimm that were able to take over the human body had ever shown up anywhere. Until that girl, regenerated and ready, was able to spawn just _one_ of those grimm, and her target was none a young boy with dreams of becoming a huntsman.**

 **Something she loathed with all her strength.**

 **How do I know all this?**

 **Well...heh.**

 **I am that girl after all.**

* * *

Ozpin watched over the students with a critical eye, his peripherals scanning each little square that contained teams of two carefully. He didn't exactly know what was going to happen, but with his semblance, time dictated that something was going to occur during this particular initiation.

He just needed to be ready for it.

It may have just been that 8 students were going to become comrades in arms by fighting side-by-side with eachother, not too much of an odd occurance, but it was certainly a first for him. The way they all moved and fought together was perfect - and while he already had suspected the 8 being on the two teams they were on right now, it was better to see the results whilst they fought the grimm.

"Headmaster, it looks like the rook and knight pieces have been chosen." Glynda stated from her position beside Ozpin, looking over the Emerald forest with her coincidental emerald eyes. Her arms crossed with a stern expression on her face, narrowing her eyes when her gaze landed on a certain blonde boy.

"Though it seems like Miss Nikos has gotten a...less then adequate partner to her name." she deadpanned, watching the boy tumblr to the ground in a heap of limbs once more from a stray branch.

Ozpin hummed in agreement, "It appears so, but you should give the boy some more credit, he's an excellent tactician."

Having watched the boy tell Pyrhha which strategy would work the best against the pack of beowolfs was like watching the work of a true leader doing his job - and that was exactly what Ozpin planned to make Jaune be.

He _knew_ Jaune had it in him to be a leader.

Comfortable silence reigned between the two teachers, taking it upon themselves to watch the activity of their latest initiates; things really were shaping up to be an interesting year.

It should've been like any other initiation before this, grab the relics, fight one or two B-class grimm and have them come back to the cliffs.

 **Neow!**

They didn't expect to feel a wave of pulsating energy blast it's way into their aura, both Glynda and Ozpin's eyes widened at the feeling. That energy...

The darkness it held, the pure hatred it showed, the pain and agony it coursed through their veins...but how?

It...this couldn't be true could it?

"Ozpin...is _she_ really back?" Glynda asked shakily, tightening the grip on her riding crop and letting glyphs settle at the bottom of her feet.

Ozpin said nothing, flicking the lever on his cane and shifting it into a form that had never been unfurled in ages - some people called it the time wielders key.

It really was, there wasn't a doubt about it, only _she_ would be able to put out an energy just like this. Thankfully, only members of the forgotten society could feel it; if anyone else were to feel this type of energy, their bodies would probably writhe in agony and eventually shrivel up.

In other words...they would die.

He grimaced, why would _she_ come at a time like this? What could she possibly have to gain from all this?

Unless...

"Glynda, go get the others professors and tell them to meet up with me at the Emerald Forest, hopefully this is only a dud - but if we were to hope on something logical, only one of the ancient types of grimm." he commanded sternly. Not missing a beat, Ozpin slammed his sword into the ground and let green energy collectively form a barrier around him, while Glynda fashed back towards the school propelled by her glyphs.

Ozpin soared through the air, green energy wisps leaving a trail behind him as he dashed towards his destination at a frantic pace.

It all made sense - _she_ wasn't a fan of people that possesed hearts as pure as gold, and even that was an understatement. _She_ was the type of person who would want nothing more then to watch those kinds of souls burn into ashes in front of _her_.

He was almost there; so close!

"I made a promise, a promise that all my students would never have to see the horrors that I used to go through." he muttered to himself, "And you won't make me break that promise, Salem."

* * *

Moments earlier

He silently berated himself as he saw his partner get launched to the rest of his...friends? Could he call them that now? Nevermind, that was moot, his partner had been launched by the Death Stalker that chased them all the way to the ruins.

That's not to say _he_ didn't get launched either - he actually got launched further.

But he was one to put other's needs before his own, so he honestly didn't care if he got hurt that much.

Like that time when he failed to catch the Snow Angel literally falling from the sky - she offered a hand up to him, and he was silently squealing, but that's not the point - or the other time when he cushioned Ruby from impacting with the tree.

In hindsight, all he was to them was a meat shield; someone they could use to get hurt in their steed. While he doubted they actually thought this way, this was what _he_ thought. What else did he expect to be when he faked his transcripts to a school where only the best of the best were excepted.

"Great, now we can all die together!" The busty blonde - Ruby's sister - cheered sardonically, pumping an overdramatic fist in the air for effect.

Ruby grinned, "Not if I can help it!"

With a burst of speed, she rushed over to the Death Stalker with her Sycthe above her head, aiming for a killing blow.

"Ruby!" he heard a voice call out, and it took him only a second to realize that it was _him_ who called out and started to run after her with all the speed he could muster.

She slashed down with her sycthe, but the exoskeleton was too sturdy and she got knocked back from the initial impact.

"Ruby! Get back here!" a few voices shrieked simultaneously.

She dashed back towards the group in a clumsy haste, just narrowly dodging a hail of feathers coming out from the Nevermore - but in a stroke of bad luck, the feather got stuck to her cloak.

She grunted inaudibly as she tugged at her cloack frantically, her eyes wide with fear as she tried and failed to use her semblance to get out of this mess. The Death Stalker was closing in on her, stinger poised to strike at her heart, and Jaune duly noted some people were running to Ruby just as he was.

What could he do?!

What could a clumsy, dumb _fucking_ excuse for a hunstmen-in-training do at a point like this!?

He planted his sword in the ground and put his shield under his feet.

Well...be a meat shield.

He burst aura into his legs and in his shield as it sent him _flying_ towards the gap between Ruby and the Death Stalker. He narrowed his eyes as he focused, trying his hardest to use all his willpower to get in between Ruby's plausible death.

He was so close!

A few inches and he would be there!

Screams of names were shouted, but he tuned them all out, and when the time came, he was finally ready to face the inevitable pain for his friend.

The stinger jabbed it's way into his stomach, and he let out a blood-filled cry of agony, clutching the stinger with what little strength he had left - trying harder then he'd ever done before to pry the stinger away from his organs.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he cried out as his arms pushed the stinger away from his body, letting him fall onto the ground in a mess, blood splattered and soaking the ground below.

More screams, who would be screaming? Or more importantly, _what_ would they be screaming for? Surely they wouldn't waste their time on losing their voice to go save Ruby?

He heard the sound of ice being formed, and couldn't help but let out a tiny grin of his own, looks like the snow angel came around, huh?

But what he didn't expect, was the sheer screech of pain coming from the Death Stalker as he heard flesh being torn in an instant. With as much strength as he could muster, he looked through half-lidded eyes and saw Ozpin standing in front of the grimm, his sword in both hands held out in front of him.

And a Death Stalker cut in half.

His grin turned as wide as he could make it, looks like his sacrifice wasn't for nothing after all. He looked to the rest of the group, and eyed-

His body twitched uncontrollably, he shakily glanced back at his own hands and saw only purple - said color filling his veins and coursing through his body.

What...what was this?

His scream of pain echoed throughout the entiretyof Emerald forest.

He could barely make out the frantic talking of his friends, the fast sounds of feet stomping on the ground.

Cries of his name were now barely audible, the only thing visual he could see were the distinct colors of his friends.

All this still held up, until Jaune's eyes closed, and he layed there - unmoving to the world around him.

* * *

Ozpin grabbed hold of the boy and flew back towards Beacon Academy, not bothering with answering some of the questions the initiates had asked.

He grit his teeth, god dammit!

Salem had to strike now!

Why!?

Why!?

 **WHY!?**

In an extra burst of speed, he flew towards his school, where he would get the best of the best to take care of the boy he held.

He wouldn't lose a student.

 _"Take...care...of my...daughters...and say hi...when my son's...born...can you do that...for me Oz?"_

His eyes swelled, he didn't want to lose a student.

Not again...

He faintly remembered the same blonde hair and blue eyes, the same smile and attitude, the drive and purpose. His interactions, his actions, his ability to take control of the situation. They were both the same.

He hugged the unconcious form of Jaune closer to his chest.

 _Never_ again...

* * *

 **AN:Hello...and welcome to Short-Lived!**

 **Yes, another story, sue me...**

 **Please don't.**

 **But onto how this came to be. I was actually just browsing some Lancaster pics on the internet, and Kegi Springfield's had caught my eye - the drawing where Jaune got hurt for Ruby and all that. So with my mindset, I eventually branched off from there, coming up with a whole plotline as to how exactly I could make that simple idea into a whole story. And I hope I didn't dissapoint!**

 **A lot of things I can't explain at the moment, you'll just have to read and find out.**

 **Sorry if this is a bit short...**

 **Love it? Hate it? Leave a review!**

 **Cya!**


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